Visual culture for me:

In my understanding, visual culture means that a content that expresses a culture, it might be a social issue, might be a popular thing, etc. After taking this class, I  realized that it could also be not only on paper or with text. As long as it has content to carry the problem/ idea that people want others to know, it will be a kind of visual culture.

Process:

1. Design the image.

2. Transfer and carve the image.

3. Test Print

4. Exploration with wood

Final Project as displayed

Reflection:

From the beginning of the class, Professors state that this is a research base class. Over this semester, I did a lot of research about artist, material, and articles based on my topic, and I realized that researching is actually another way of creating, and it helps me gain inspirations. Before I started to do my final project, I do a lot of researching about transgender people in China. This information that I collect leads me to sketches and designs. For me, my final project is the content that brings all my researches together so the people who see it could understand my topic. Furthermore, I also research the material that I’ve been used. What kind of paper should I use? What kind of ink works better? How wet the paper will print the image better? Some of them I learned from the internet and advice by my professors, some of them I figure out by personal experience. Although I’m not skillful with printmaking, research solves problems for me.

Challenges:

Before the final project, I also did the exploration of different materials, and finally, I chose the wood board, black paper, and white print paper. I used black and white print ink for my final piece. And the contrast between black and white looks successful. Also, I do think the draft that I designed expresses my understanding of the situation about transgender people in China. I like the print texture on wood, however, the gold leaf was not as clean and neat as I expected. It was also hard to control the wetness of print paper and the amount of ink to use. I will cave all my print on one linoleum board so I can finish once, and the color will be the same and neat.

I enjoy the process more because the fun thing of doing a printmaking project is that every time the print will come out differently, although it might be because I’m not that skillful, but I enjoy to have this coincidental experience.